


Smooth the Raging Sea

by thelvenqueen



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe- Everyone Lives, Brotherly Love, Family Feels, Gen, Rebuilding Erebor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 01:49:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelvenqueen/pseuds/thelvenqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ori is angry at Dori for his poor behavior towards Dwalin, especially since their relationship is finally starting to grow. Dori thinks he is protecting Ori, Ori thinks he doesn’t need protecting. The brothers have a long overdue heart to heart when Dori confesses stories from his past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smooth the Raging Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Just something that popped into my head. This is my first piece, so feedback is greatly appreciated!

Ori stomped through the massive library doors of Erebor and roughly tossed his bag of assorted scrolls and quills on the floor next to his desk. Flopping into his chair with a huff he opened a book to a marked spot and began to copy its contents onto blank papers.

After the company had reclaimed their lost kingdom, all the dwarves had all been working hard on doing their part to restore Erebor to its former glory. Ori had been working in the library restoring and copying books and old documents that were spared from Smaug’s wrath. Bilbo or Balin would occasionally help him with his work, but they usually had bigger obligations such as advising their king or acting as ambassadors. So Ori was often left alone to do his work, which never really bothered him, especially now.

During the course of their adventure Ori and Dwalin had become close, extremely close. From the beginning of the journey Ori had always been in awe of the warrior. He would often find excuses to speak with him near the campsite or walk next to him on their journey. Their relationship grew when Ori found he wanted to prove himself to Dwalin as well as the rest of the company that he was a capable of holding his own and belonged on this quest like everyone else. Admiration evolved into infatuation and before he knew it he was beard over boots for the tattooed dwarf. Ori almost fainted when Mister Dwalin confessed that he had the same feeling for the young scribe. When they had finally reclaimed their home Dwalin wanted to officially begin to court him. Everything seemed to be going so perfectly. Ori could have sworn that he felt like he could fly, only to be yanked back down to earth by his overprotective brothers. 

Well, one more than the other really. Nori had eventually come to accept that he and Dwalin were now courting. The only reason the thief was so reluctant in the first place was because he thought Dwalin was going to kiss Ori one second and arrest Nori the next. When it was clear that wouldn’t be happening Nori relaxed and was even happy for the budding couple. Dori, however, was not so easy to be put at ease. Dori had put up a fight the moment he noticed Ori’s lingering gazes on the warrior, which Ori found extremely exhausting to fight back against. All hell broke loose when Dori found a racy sketch of the warrior in Ori’s notebook and hasn’t gotten easier. The brothers argued often and it eventually led to one of them storming off before they did something they would regret. This time Ori decided to tap out early and work on his documents. 

After a few minutes of tense silence Ori could hear footsteps slowly come up behind him and stop. They weren’t heavy enough to be Dwalin’s, nor light enough to be Bilbo or Balin. He knew exactly who they belonged to and he refused to turn around and acknowledge them. 

“I know you are angry with me,” Dori tried to reason with his younger brother, “but you just have to trust me. I’m only looking out for you.” Ori just continued to scribble runes onto his parchment as if Dori hadn’t been there. After a moment of silence Dori accepted that he was not going to get a word out of the younger dwarf anytime soon so he pulled up a chair next to Ori. “What are you working on?” Dori hated being ignored. He needed to hear something, anything, from his younger brother. He would rather Ori yell at him than ignore him. 

“Just making a copy of a history book.” Ori muttered without looking up from his work. Dori let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Would you like some tea?” Dori asked quickly while he had Ori’s attention. 

“No.” Ori replied a little louder this time. He was still angry then.

“Are you sure? I just got this new brew that-”

“Yes I’m sure!” Ori yelled and finally looked up at his brother. “I don’t want anything from you right now. Not your tea or your presence in my personal life. I’m not a dwarfling anymore, I don’t need you looking after me and I especially don’t need your protection, if that’s what you want to call it. Why can’t you just be happy for me?” Ori’s face was now slightly red and his eyes were fiercer than Dori had ever seen it. 

Dori tried to keep his gaze straight, but broke eye contact first. Looking down at his feet he sighed loudly. He felt guilty, really he did. He knew that Ori was not a child anymore and hardly needed him for anything now. 

Ori could see the regret filling in his brother’s face. He didn’t mean to snap at Dori, he hated yelling and the thought that he made his brother feel bad made a knot in his stomach. He loved Dori, he really did. The dwarf raised him for Mahal’s sake! But it didn’t excuse his poor behavior towards Mister Dwalin. 

They both sat there for what seemed like ages, feeling guilty but not daring to break and apologies first. Instead they stood their ground in silence until Dori let out a long sigh and put a gentle hand on the younger dwarf’s knee. 

“Ori I want to tell you a story,” Dori began, “it’s about a young dwarf that lived in the Blue Mountains. He worked in a shop selling herbs and teas to men and travelers. He had suddenly found himself thrust into the role of the head of the family. He needed to take care of his mother and younger trouble maker of a brother. The dwarf needed as much money as he could get and took whatever jobs he could find. Times were very hard, but the two dwarves managed.” 

Ori felt his anger melt away and gave Dori his full attention. He rarely heard stories about his brothers’ lives in the Blue Mountains before he was born. Nori would tell him a few tales of his thieving days, which Dori didn’t approve of him passing onto Ori because it was a bad influence, but other than those Ori only had a rough image of his older brothers before he came along. 

When Dori was satisfied that his brother seemed to have calmed down he continued, “One day while the dwarf was working in a tea shop a handsome warrior dwarf came in. He was glorious, even with barely a penny to his name, with a beautiful brunette beard woven in fine braids. The moment the young dwarf saw him he was enchanted” Dori smiled slightly at the memory.

“What was his name?” Ori asked curiously.

Dori came back to reality and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Anyway, the warrior would come into the tea shop every day, have a small cup and leave. Eventually the young dwarf mustered up the courage to introduce himself to the warrior and they got along right away. They would talk for hours laughing and sharing secrets. Things seemed to be getting serious between the two, so the young dwarf thought it was time to craft a courting bead to give to the warrior. So the dwarf had used his savings to buy fine silver and spent weeks crafting a courting bead to present to the warrior he thought would be his One.”

Ori was shocked by this new information. He had never known that Dori had a lover. Neither Dori nor Nori had ever mentioned it. So what had happened to this warrior dwarf that his brother was so captivated by? 

“What happened next?” Ori asked quietly. 

Dori pressed his lips into a thin line, eyes never leaving the floor. Ori placed his knit covered hand over Dori’s and gave it a light squeeze. 

“It turns out his feeling were not returned. Though the warrior dwarf enjoyed his company he said he could never be with someone so domestic, I suppose.” Dori closed his eyes and let another long exhale out. “The warrior had envisioned himself with someone of higher class, a respectable family, maybe even more beautiful. It hardly matters what the reasons for their relationship to die were. The young dwarf was heartbroken beyond compare, but when the he thought nothing could bring light into his life again fate had given him the most wonderful of gifts he could imagine.” 

“What was the gift?” Ori was now sitting on the edge of his seat, still clutching his brother’s hand.

“A beautiful dwarrow babe with auburn hair.” Dori said, finally looking up at Ori. His eyes were brimmed with tears, but these were not from sorrow. No, these were brought forth by the happiest of memories. Ori bit his cheek and felt his own vision become slightly blurred. “I remember the exact moment you were put into my hands, you were so tiny and I was afraid to let you go. I felt like the safest place for you was in my arms and I have never felt happier in my life. You are the most precious thing in my world. I decided then and there that I would never let anything hurt you and I would try my hardest to give you the world. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anything hurt you.”

Ori was taken aback by his brother’s confession and suddenly all of Dori’s past actions came flooding back in a giant wave, only they were now being seen in a new light. Ori felt his anger being washed away and replaced by the most unconditional love for his older brother. Dori had been through so much and only did what he thought was best for the family. He had worked so hard to provide for them and had never once complained. He had always been there for Ori when no one else was. When their mother died or when Nori had left and Ori wasn't sure if he was coming back, Dori had always been there. 

Ori felt a hot tear slide down his cheek. “Dori…” Ori crashed into his brother, hugging him tightly, which Dori gladly returned. The brothers sat in silence again, only this time it was a warm welcomed silence. It reminded Dori of all the stormy nights Ori had crawled into his bed because he was scared, the scraped knees he had to kiss to make them feel better, and smudges of dirt he cleaned off freckled cheeks at the end of the day. 

Dori finally pulled Ori off him to look him in the eye. “I am happy for you Ori, love is such a wonderful thing and I had always hoped one day you would fall in love and have a family of your own.”

“Then why are you trying to push Master Dwalin away so much?” Ori asked in quiet voice. If his brother wanted him to be happy then why was he trying to tear they person that Ori loved most away from him? “I know now that he must remind you of that one dwarf all those years ago, but you have to understand that they are completely different. Dwalin loves me, and I love him. And I think if you give him a chance you will come to like him too.” 

“I know he loves you, I just could bear the thought of you having to go through the same pain I did. I thought I was protecting you by not letting anyone close that could hurt you. I see now that I am doing the very thing I didn’t want by not letting you live your life.”

Ori hugged Dori again lightly. “I forgive you, and I understand.” Relief fell over both of them. Ori felt for the first time that smooth sailing was to come and everything was finally falling into place. He would have a family with Mister Dwalin like Dori had wanted, and he would make sure his brother would be a part of it. “Dwalin and I are supposed to meet for lunch soon, I think some tea would be nice as well, and I think he would be honored if you joined us.”

“Yes, tea does sound nice.” Dori smiled, “I would like that very much.”


End file.
